Liveaboard to Burma

[Tippytoes12]

Dear all

Has anybody done a liveaboard to Burma from Thailand.

We are contemplating this for next year and wondered if any SB users have any information on trips they have done. We have found the boats and operators but would love to hear from anybody who has been on one of the trips.

Many thanks and best fishes from a very hot and sunny UK x

 

[Batfish]

Well I've not done one for a few years, it's mostly diveshop/office work for me these days ... There's not that many boats to choose from, but I can tell you we had a lot of very positive reports this year about the marine life, lots of great diving it seems. Have a good trip!

 

[Arizona]

Excellent diving! I was on a liveaboard last March and would certainly go back again. I have dived the Similans 7 times and going up the archipelago in comparison is very much worth it. MV Dolphin Queen

 

[kassj0peja]

The Mergui Archipelago and the Burma Banks have the potential to be a worldclass diver's destination.
Divesites like Black Rock or Western Rocky could easily compete with the best divesites in Thailand (Richilieu Rock or Hin Muang/Daeng). Very beautiful scenery under and above the surface. Unfortunately there is a lot of (illegal) fishing.

Besides Black Rock I prefer the southern divesites like Western Rocky (in all its variations), Fan Forest Pinnacle and some of the divesites near MacLeod Island.
In my opinion divesites in the middle of the archipelago like Shark Cave (In through the Outdoor, 3 Islets), High Rock, Rocky Island are not a reason to dive in Burma instead of Thailand. Unfortunately I have never been to South & North Twin but they are supposed to be good.

Even if there are almost no sharks left in the Banks try to find a boat that goes there.
I have never been to most northern sites like Little Torres or Tower Rock but most boats don't go there anyway.

 

[joelpat]

I did a Similan/Surin trip on Deep Andaman Queen in 2013, and I just booked a Burma trip with them for early November. I was very happy with the boat and staff last time. It's comfortable, but not luxurious. The boat itself is set up really nicely for diving, with a great rear deck.

 

[Buadhai]

A bit of nostalgia:

I did a number of Burma trips on the old Short Cut (Highclass Diving - Evi and Wolfgang) back in the late 90s. Probably the most adventurous live aboard diving I've ever done. The dive sites were relatively unknown and the guides carefully guarded their hand drawn maps. Burma Banks was still full of sharks but those were all deco dives done without computers. Dynamite fishing was widespread and we'd often sail through waters cluttered with floating, bloated dead fish.

I have fond memories of overnight stays at Victoria Point (Kawthaung), drinking Burmese beer and rum at the amazing Honey Bear hotel.

FWIW, here's an abbreviated extract from my dive log from a 1999 Burma trip showing the sites we visited and a bit of what we saw. (I'm not a prolific log writer….)

High Rock - nudibranchs, yellow moray, cuttlefish, stonefish,
scorpionfish, helmet conch.


Cavern Island - Large octopus, school of cuttlefish


Cavern Bay (night) - 1 meter long lobster (really!), spotted rays,
sleeping parrot fish, shrimp eyes glowing in the dark.


Burma Banks (three dives) - Strong currents, large silver tip sharks,
nurse sharks


Little Torres I - Large sharks, many black and white lobster, huge
moray.


Little Torres II - Great coral, big fans, nurse shark, big eels.


Little Torres III - Big black nudibranch and not much else.


Little Torres II (night) - Zebra moray, blue spotted rays.


Black Rock (3 dives) - Leopard sharks, white tip sharks, black tip
ray, cuttlefish mating ritual, many eels, stonefish, scorpionfish.
Four or five white tip sharks hunting as a group.


North Twin Plateau - Saw a whale from the boat. Many schools of fish.
Barracuda hunting.


North Twin - Big octopus, trevally.


Bo Wei - Nice caves and swim throughs. Big black spotted ray. Tiny,
ant-like shrimps.

BTW, that seven day trip cost US$770.

 

[Bexny]

I did a week long trip on MV Faah Yai back in February 2007 and had a fantastic time! it What I particularly loved about the trip was that it was a small boat catering to a small number of divers; there were only 9 of us on the boat on my trip. Being a smaller boat, it also made for a more intimate atmosphere and made it easy to get to know the fellow guests and the dive guides. The boat and quality of service were what I expected for the price I paid. The cabins were comfortable enough but not super spacious. Then again, I spent most of my time on the outer deck or in the saloon. Good food for a liveaboard and plenty of it! Saw a wide range of marine life, from tiny nudibranchs and shrimps to leopard sharks and marble rays. Some current on some of the sites but nothing crazy. Good viz when I went, 25-30 meters. Great dives and not a single dive boat in sight! Not sure if that's the case now but I bet it's still nowhere as crowded as the Similans. I'd personally jump at the chance to go again!

 

[TSS]

In love with Mergui Archipelago

Hi all,

I loved diving in Mergui Archipelago so much that I settled down in Ranong to make it my life
We opened The Smiling Seahorse in 2012 and are still not tired of diving the Archipelago. You can find reviews of our cruises on tripadvisor and more details about the cruises we offer on our website.
Of course I realize that my opinion is now biased as I am operating on Burmese waters... we do go to Surin and Similans as well though and I must admit my heart goes with Mergui Archipelago for several reasons:
- more diversity (frog fish, gost fish and harlequin shrimps are found on every cruise...)
- a lot less boat... I dont enjoy diving in a jaccuzzi...
Our boat takes 12 divers max in 3 groups.
I hope you take your chance and try diving Mergui Archipelago with us or another boat I'm pretty sure you will like it.
Here is a small pic of our boat from March.

Happy diving!
Camille

 

[TSS]

Hello Tippytoes12 and all interested
I loved diving in Myanmar so much, that I settled down in Ranong and made it my life!
Of course my opinion is now biased being one of the few operators in Mergui Archipelago. But while we still offer cruises to Surin and Similan Islands in Thailand once in a while, our heart is still with Myanmar for several reasons:
- more bio diversity (frog fish, ghost pipe fish and harlequin shrimps are found on every trip)
- less boats...
I hope you'll try it out with us or another boat and enjoy it as much as I do.
That's a little pic of a friendly whaleshark with our boat last march.

Happy diving!
Camille

 

[JonnieB]

The Punanee is a very nice ship...4-5 stars. They have a regular schedule of liveaboards to the Merguei archipelago and inner-Burma islands.